Israel has been grappling with two questions of life and death - the controversial prisoner exchange with Hezbollah has apparently been resolved while the Iranian nuclear threat looms larger on the horizon. IsraCast sees a connection between these two issues facing the Jewish state in more ways than one.

U.S. House of Representatives: 'Rights Of Jewish Refugees From Arab Countries Must Also Be Recognized'

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a resolution calling for the recognition of Jewish refugees forced to flee the Arab countries. In the wording of the non-binding resolution: 'Explicit reference to Palestinian refugees be matched by a similar explicit reference to Jewish and other refugees as a matter of law and equity'. In a recent interview with IsraCast, Canadian Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister in Canada, estimated there were more Jewish Jewish refugees from the Arab countries than there were Palestinian refugees.

Contrary to many expectations, the latest coalition crisis has ended 'not with a bang but a whimper'. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak agreed on a compromise that will allow the current coalition to continue for at least another three to five months. The IsraCast assessment is that Olmert and Barak had no choice but to carry 'the art of the possible' to an ultimate conclusion, although the Israeli public may view it as politics at its worst.

The death of an Israeli Druze guard who was shot in the head during a farewell ceremony for President Sarkozy of France continued to provoke debate yesterday as the family disputed claims that he committed suicide.

President Nicolas Sarkozy: 'A Nuclear Iran Is Unacceptable'

'France Will Stand In The Way Of Those Trying To Destroy Israel'

'Israel Must Stop Settlement Building & Jerusalem Must also Be Capital Of Palestinian State'

Speaking in the Knesset, French President Nicolas Sarkozy pulled no punches when he addressed the burning issues affecting Israel, Iran and the Palestinians. IsraCast reports the French leader spoke frankly of Israel's right to exist, the Iranian nuclear threat and the need for Israeli concessions to end the Palestinian conflict.

Maj. Gen.(res.) Yaakov Amidror: 'Air Exercise Does Not Mean Israel Has Decided To Attack Iran's Nuclear Installations, Only That Such A Capability Is Being Developed'

IsraCast Assessment: Israel Has Now Warned Both Iran & International Community That Time Is Running Out

Has Israel carried out a dress rehearsal for a massive air strike against Iran's nuclear facilities? In Jerusalem, officials refuse to comment on the New York Times report that more than 100 Israeli F-15s and F-16s carried out an air exercise over the Mediterranean Sea. According to Pentagon sources the exercise simulated an attack on Iran. IsraCast says the Israel Air Force has sent a message loud and clear in different directions.

The 'Tahdia' lull has gone into force between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. One Israeli dilemma has now been resolved for better or worse. A second dilemma may now reach a climax in possible prisoner exchanges to retrieve three Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah has given no sign of life from two of them Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser.

President Shimon Peres arrived in Petra, where he met with King Abdullah II ahead of the a global conference for Nobel Peace Laureates named 'Petra IV: Reaching for New Economic, Scientific and Educational Horizons.' Peres is also seeking to promote the joint Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian water canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

IDF Chief Of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi: 'We Do Not Believe Hamas Will Honor Proposed Cease-fire - It Will Be Fragile & Temporary'

Gen. Ashkenazi: 'UN Forces Have Failed To Prevent Hezbollah From Rebuilding Its Bases In South Lebanon Where It Has Again Stockpiled Thousands Of Rockets'

IDF Chief Of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has said that Hamas has no intention of honoring the 'Tahdia' cease-fire being brokered by Egypt. IsraCast interviews with various Knesset members indicates they are split across party lines about accepting the cease-fire proposal being mediated by Cairo. In a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Lt.-General Ashkenazi also warned that UNIFIL, the UN force, has failed in its mission to prevent Hezbollah's return to South Lebanon where it has again stockpiled thousands of rockets aimed at Israel.

Ruling Kadima Party Resigned To Fact That Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Has Become A Political Liability

Israel Cease-fire With Hamas Controlled Gaza May Be Best Option As It Ponders Its Options On Iran

At week's end, Israel was in the throes of considering the ousting of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and whether or not to go for a possible cease-fire with Hamas controlled Gaza. IsraCast assesses the leading topics on Israel's domestic and regional agenda. Will 'Prime Minister Tzipi Livni' soon be leading the current and why is Defense Minister Ehud Barak supporting what is likely to be a phony cease-fire that Hamas will eventually violate?

Shalit was kidnapped from his IDF post by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid two years ago. IDF Radio quoted from the letter: "I am in bad health; I dream of the day when I will return home. I hope to return soon and demand that the government not abandon me."

The Jordanian embassy in Tel Aviv has created a web site in Hebrew, for the first time since the Hashemite Kingdom signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1994. This is the only official Arab web site in Hebrew that is in regular operation.

Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz started a firestorm at home and abroad when he declared that Israel would attack Iran if it continued its nuclear weapons program. Mofaz contravened standing Israeli policy that a nuclear Iran should be viewed primarily as a threat to the entire international community. Although Mofaz was speaking out of turn and without cabinet approval, IsraCast says the affair focuses attention on the fact that the international sanctions campaign against Iran is being side-stepped not only by Russia and China but also by the European Union.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Threats Recall Those Of Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser Before He Tried To Wipe Israel Off The Map In Six Day War Of 1967

Will Ahmadinejad Eventually Suffer Same Fate As Did Nasser On June 5th, 1967?

Not a week passes without Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatening 'to wipe Israel off the map'. His latest diatribe came shortly before the June 5th anniversary of the Six Day War, when the Israel Defense Forces broke the stranglehold of massed Arab armies that threatened to annihilate the Jewish state in 1967. On June 5th forty-one years later, Isracast poses the question - is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad destined to suffer the same fate as Gamal Abdel Nasser?

In a closed door briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has reviewed Israel's security situation on all fronts. IsraCast has learned that several MKs warned that the Egyptian proposed cease-fire with Hamas will serve to strengthen the terrorists.

Leading Journalist Dead At Age Seventy-Seven

'British Left-Wing Lecturers Are Requested To Burn All Books Written By Jews Exactly As Their Spiritual Forefathers Did In Nazi Germany'

Yosef 'Tommy' Lapid, one of Israel's most controversial journalists and politicians, has died of cancer at the age of seventy-seven. After an outstanding career in journalism, Lapid led the Shinui party to an election success in 2003 joining the former Sharon as justice minister. A bitter rival of the ultra-orthodox religious community in Israel, Lapid ran on an anti-religious ticket. After leaving politics, Lapid was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to head the Yad VaShem Memorial for the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Himself a Holocaust survivor, 'Tommy Lapid' was never at a loss for words in taking on what he viewed as anti-semitic lecturers in Britain or those who acquiesce in Iran's threats to wipe Israel off the map.

Is the smell of almonds closer to that of roses or bananas? Weizmann Institute scientists have now answered that question (roses) by showing for the first time that smells can be mapped and the relative distance between various odors determined. Their findings, which appeared recently in Nature Methods, may help scientists to unravel the basic laws underlying our sense of smell, as well as potentially enabling odors to be digitized and transferred via computer in the future.

Israel is now awaiting a decision by Attorney General Meni Mazuz on whether or not to indict Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for financial corruption. That is the outcome of the Morris Talansky testimony against Olmert which may involve financial corruption. IsraCast is of the view that Labor party leader Ehud Barak has also issued an ultimatum to the ruling Kadima party that Olmert cannot run the country and cope with a full-blown police enquiry at the same time.

'It is 60 years of our independence in the wake of 2,000 years of exile of the Jewish people. Without the support of your people, without your support and that of American presidents before you, attaining these goals would have been extremely difficult, almost impossible.'

Patrick Bruel, a well-known Jewish actor and singer from France is coming to Israel for a concert in the city of Ra'anana, which will feature the best from Bruel’s 17 albums. He will sing together with the Israeli singer Shlomo Artzi. On 1996 Bruel recorded a new song in Avi Yaffe Studios (Isracast Studios) in Jerusalem with the Stradivarius Violinist Ivri Gitlis.

How does Iran view the possibility that Barack Hussein Obama, a former Muslim, might win the U.S. presidential election? Menashe Amir, an Israeli expert on Iran, says not only Iran but also the rest of the Muslim world, will view it as victory for Islam. In an interview with IsraCast, Menashe Amir quoted an important Iranian personality who declared: 'If Obama enters the White House, Islam will have conquered the heart of American society!' However, President Ahmadinejad has said that he did not believe the U.S. establishment would let Obama win.

President Peres: 'Anyone Who Doubts President Bush's Declarations Should Listen To Them Through Arab Ears'

IsraCast: 'Bush Statements Negate Recent American National Intelligence Estimate That Iran May Have Halted Nuclear Weapons Program But Apparently Passes Responsibility For Action To Next Administration'

What is the implication of President Bush's Knesset statements on Iran? 'Permitting the world's greatest sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon!', 'America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions'. IsraCast presents an assessment of President Bush's proclamations on Iran's nuclear weapons program against the backdrop of the latest Israeli intelligence.

Shalom. Laura and I are thrilled to be back in Israel. We have been deeply moved by the celebrations of the past two days. And this afternoon, I am honored to stand before one of the worlds great democratic assemblies and convey the wishes of the American people with these words - "Yom Haazmaut Sameach" (Happy Independence Day).

U.S. President George W. Bush has returned to Israel - this time to mark Israel's 60th birthday. The American leader landed after declaring that Israel will have a 'strong friend and ally in America whoever is president'. Although plagued by a police investigation into campaign contributions, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was obviously delighted with the Bush visit and warmly welcomed the U.S. President. However, IsraCast notes that although the U.S. has been pushing hard for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, a leading Hamas official has vowed the Palestinians will never recognize Israel and will destroy the Zionist state.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: 'I Never Took A Bribe Or One Cent To My Own Pocket'

'My Lawyer Uri Messer Handled All Contributions To My Political Campaigns & I Have Complete Trust That He Administered Them To The Best Of His Professional Ability And Legally As Well'

Moshe Morris Talansky of New York: 'Since 1993 I Have Often Given Money To Olmert, Some Of It In Cash'

Israelis had just ended gala celebrations for their sixtieth Independence Day when the Olmert scandal erupted. After days of rumors, a Tel Aviv court lifted the gag order on an intense police enquiry into large sums of undeclared contributions to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by Moshe Talansky, a New York businessman.

Tens Of Thousands Of Israelis Attend Memorial Services For Fallen Soldiers On Remembrance Day

Israel Remains On High Alert For Terror Attacks During Independence Day Celebrations

Israel marked Remembrance Day with memorial ceremonies around the country while remaining on high alert for possible terror attacks from Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in south Lebanon. From early morning, throngs of Israelis began streaming to the military cemeteries around the country. IsraCast says Israel as taken a 'time out' from the political speculation swirling around a police investigation into Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as it commemorated Remembrance Day for the 22,347 fallen soldiers who died defending the Jewish state.

IDF Video Indicates Palestinian Mother & Four Children Were Killed By Secondary Explosion Of Terrorists' Explosives

Israeli Chopper Fired Missile At Armed Terrorists During Clash In Gaza Strip On April 28th

Palestinian Civilians: 'Hamas Fighters Exploited Us For Cover During Incident'

The Israel Defense Forces have released aerial video from the helicopter that fired a missile at Hamas gunmen moving amid populated Palestinian buildings in the Beit Hanoun on April 28th. A subsequent explosion is believed responsible for the killing of a mother and her four children who were nearby. In an unprecedented step, the rival Palestinian Fatah movement has published on its website, severe criticism of Hamas by Palestinian residents in the Beit Hanoun neighborhood. IsraCast quotes these Palestinian civilians as charging that Hamas is exploiting them as cover for their Qassam rocket attacks on Israel. See IDF video of the two explosions.

President Shimon Peres: 'What would remain of the world if Hitler had acquired the atomic bomb?'

The Jewish state is marking this year's Holocaust Remembrance Day against the backdrop of Iran's repeated threats to wipe Israel off the map as Tehran steps up its drive to acquire nuclear weapons. At the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, IDF Chief of Staff Gaby Ashkenazi Israel compared the Allies refusal to bomb the gas chambers during World War II and the situation today. In Jerusalem, President Shimon Peres asked rhetorically: 'What would remain of the world if Hitler had acquired the atomic bomb' while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared: 'There will never be another Holocaust!' Today we return to a defining moment in Israel's quest to bring Nazi war criminals to justice - IsraCast presents a riveting interview with the late Gideon Hausner, the chief prosecutor of Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem.